Poe-fest

Metropolitan Playhouse, renowned for its exploration of America’s literary heritage, hosts a festival of new plays celebrating the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe. Performances encompass a wide range of theatrical styles, from musicals to monologues, from dance performances to full length plays. Some are based on Poe’s work while others are inspired by his life, and still others inherit the artist’s sensibility. Additionally, each evening of the festival leads off with a reading or recital of one of Poe’s works, including an excerpt from his one unfinished play: Polition.

Poe-Fest is divided into seven different performances (the Vaults), each comprised of from one to three presentations. All in all, the Festival includes thirteen performances by artists from Atlanta to Amherst.

Vault A
Eleanora by Tara Bahna-James and Jonathan Portera is a musical adaptation of one of Poe’s less well known–and optimistic– stories.
101Ways… by Stephen Peace is a play about a book about murder, and the possibilities.
Quoth the Raven, by Dan Evans, features Poe and a raven who form a feisty, if productive team.

Vault B
Poe by Jack Aaronson is a new musical in which Poe struggles to control the fates of those around him.

Vault C
The Tell – Tale Heart – a Musicabre by Danny Ashkenasi. The “vulture eye” and the “hideous heart”, vividly told and sung to the accompaniment of three demonic cellos.
Curse of the Neckrophreniac by Trav S. D. An opium-crazed poet becomes obsessed with the anatomy of two women.

Vault D
Masque of the Red Death by Wandering Rom Players features tales and poems woven together through dance.
The Raven Prepares by Patrick Blake. The Raven readies for his entrance in the famous poem.

Vault E

Mr. E. A. Poe’s New Year’s Bash by Jeremy Halpern Characters from Poe’s work gather to celebrate his murder, scheduled from the stroke of midnight.

Vault F
Somewhat Damaged by Alexander Poe. It’s characters versus creator as Poe perfects his masterpiece.
The Purloined Detective by Laura Livingston. Poe’s detective C. Auguste DuPin meets Holmes and Dr. Watson in a battle of inspiration and plagiarism.

Vault G
Blackheart by Dick St George and Susan Hopkins.
The Black Cat and The Telltale Heart told together in a celebration of Poe’s best writing.
Raving by Peter Lobdell and Charles Ditto. A man is obsessed with The Raven . . . and the Raven depends on him.